My Life

Complain about your schedule. Apparently people like that sort of thing.
owl
Panama
Posts: 974
Joined: Mon May 15, 2017 1:29 pm
Instruments: vox keys uke guitar
Recording Method: REAPER
Submitting as: Vowl Sounds, miscellaneous owl
Pronouns: she/her
Location: Madison, WI
Contact:

Re: My Life

Post by owl »

crumpart wrote:
Wed Jul 29, 2020 11:07 pm
Yep, the starlings were very definitely alive. Luckily for them we don’t use that heater, so keep shelves in front of it and Tadhg couldn’t get to them. When we realised what was going on we put him outside and moved everything so they could get out, and they flew to the front window and out that way.
Once a squirrel fell down into our heating duct and died and when we went to change the furnace air filter in the fall, we discovered its sad, light little mummified body inside the furnace. Poor little guy. I’m glad you saved the starlings!
User avatar
fluffy
Eruption
Posts: 11029
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 10:56 am
Instruments: sometimes
Recording Method: Logic Pro X
Submitting as: Sockpuppet
Pronouns: she/they
Location: Seattle-ish
Contact:

Re: My Life

Post by fluffy »

owl wrote:
Thu Jul 30, 2020 12:03 pm
fluffy wrote:
Wed Jul 29, 2020 9:20 pm
owl wrote:
Wed Jul 29, 2020 4:24 pm
I also got diagnosed with a chronic illness recently, and that’s taken some time to get used to—it’s been a stressful time.
Oh jeeze, I missed this on the first read of your post. I know just how frustrating chronic illness can be, and I hope yours is one that isn't too troublesome. You have my sympathies, regardless.
Thanks, fluffy and paco—type 2 diabetes, and wasn’t horribly out of control when they caught it. So it’s very manageable and controllable with diet and exercise, at least for the moment, but still a bummer, and I’m still figuring out and adjusting to the necessary changes to my diet (food types, meal timing and size) plus getting in the habit of monitoring/testing.

It runs in my family really strongly on my mom’s side, so it was in my genes, but I got it pretty early :( but on the plus side, between family history and relevant stuff I’ve worked on for my job, I know quite a lot about the disease and it’s not as scary as it could be. Plus I do have a lot of control over it if I can stay disciplined. I do love my carbs though! I’m sad to say goodbye to giant bowls of noodles and ice cream sundaes.
Ah, yeah, caught early enough it's very manageable and it's even possible to reverse it up to a certain point.

Back in 2015 I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes (which is basically the starting stages of type 2) and that was a wakeup call to stop eating so much sugar. I went cold turkey on sugar for around a month, and that helped me to recalibrate my palate and how sugar made me feel afterwards, and now I just don't crave sweets nearly so much. I've also come to realize just how ridiculously sweet pretty much everything is in this country.

Another thing I did was to get a mini waffle maker and a mini ice cream churn (both by Dash) which has been great, since it makes dessert-making fun and the resulting portion sizes are very well-controlled (it's a pain in the butt to make too much, even). Plus you can control the sugar level very easily too.
User avatar
Paco Del Stinko
Hot for Teacher
Posts: 3542
Joined: Fri Apr 07, 2006 11:20 am
Instruments: Basic rock, at a basic level.
Recording Method: Roland 2480
Submitting as: Paco del Stinko
Location: Massachusetts. God save the Commonwealth!

Re: My Life

Post by Paco Del Stinko »

Well, Owl, I'm glad that as concerning as diabetes is, it's not something worse and should be controllable. Good luck with all that it involves.

In my corner, I've just found out that I have high cholesterol and am at a supposed 10% chance of having a heart attack or stroke within the next ten years. So, changes in my diet/lifestyle are in order as well. I'm too heavy these days as well, so it's a good kick in the ass. I also saw an orthopedist today, and have early arthritus in my right hip. A year of gradually increasing discomfort and pain came to this. So far, ibuprofen as a preventative anti-inflammatory is the treatment. Next would be injections then, ugh, hip replacement. We'll have to all collab as the Medical Misfits, or something. :)

Try and stay healthy, peoples. Ya never know whats up around the bend.
Bringin' the stink since 2006.
owl
Panama
Posts: 974
Joined: Mon May 15, 2017 1:29 pm
Instruments: vox keys uke guitar
Recording Method: REAPER
Submitting as: Vowl Sounds, miscellaneous owl
Pronouns: she/her
Location: Madison, WI
Contact:

Re: My Life

Post by owl »

fluffy wrote:
Thu Jul 30, 2020 1:30 pm
owl wrote:
Thu Jul 30, 2020 12:03 pm
fluffy wrote:
Wed Jul 29, 2020 9:20 pm


Oh jeeze, I missed this on the first read of your post. I know just how frustrating chronic illness can be, and I hope yours is one that isn't too troublesome. You have my sympathies, regardless.
Thanks, fluffy and paco—type 2 diabetes, and wasn’t horribly out of control when they caught it. So it’s very manageable and controllable with diet and exercise, at least for the moment, but still a bummer, and I’m still figuring out and adjusting to the necessary changes to my diet (food types, meal timing and size) plus getting in the habit of monitoring/testing.

It runs in my family really strongly on my mom’s side, so it was in my genes, but I got it pretty early :( but on the plus side, between family history and relevant stuff I’ve worked on for my job, I know quite a lot about the disease and it’s not as scary as it could be. Plus I do have a lot of control over it if I can stay disciplined. I do love my carbs though! I’m sad to say goodbye to giant bowls of noodles and ice cream sundaes.
Ah, yeah, caught early enough it's very manageable and it's even possible to reverse it up to a certain point.

Back in 2015 I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes (which is basically the starting stages of type 2) and that was a wakeup call to stop eating so much sugar. I went cold turkey on sugar for around a month, and that helped me to recalibrate my palate and how sugar made me feel afterwards, and now I just don't crave sweets nearly so much. I've also come to realize just how ridiculously sweet pretty much everything is in this country.

Another thing I did was to get a mini waffle maker and a mini ice cream churn (both by Dash) which has been great, since it makes dessert-making fun and the resulting portion sizes are very well-controlled (it's a pain in the butt to make too much, even). Plus you can control the sugar level very easily too.
Yeah, I’ve done a couple of rounds of Whole30, which is cold turkey not just on sugar but grains, alcohol, dairy, legumes, etc. It’s hard to sustain in a culture where you’re eating out and going to potlucks and such, but being in lockdown is a pretty good time to seize total control of my food intake without accompanying socially awkward situations. I don’t have a terrible sweet tooth, but knowing I can’t have <insert sweet food> makes the cravings worse.

Also glad you could turn things around with the pre-diabetes diagnosis. I was fine at my last checkup but it had been a few years, my PCP moved practices and I got lazy with scheduling. My fasting glucose was actually still in pre-diabetes levels, but my A1C (three-month average) was just on the wrong side of the pre-diabetes/diabetes borderline. I’m optimistic that I should be able to drop everything back to pre-diabetic or even normal levels at the stage I’m at now, with the diet restrictions I’m on now. I also physically feel a lot better, as far as energy and hunger levels go, now that I’m not spiking and crashing from bread, pasta, etc. I didn’t notice a huge difference as far as that goes the last time I did whole30, so my insulin resistance must have gone to shit in the meantime. (Apparently stress is a big trigger and this HAS been a hell of a year so far...)

Anyway, I’m curious about your mini ice cream maker and getting a less-sweet ice cream with an acceptable mouthfeel. Do you use just regular sugar, but less of it? Or sugar substitutes? Do you do a custard base like for regular ice cream? I know sugar plays a role not just in the sweetness but breaking up the ice crystal formation so you have a creamy ice cream and not a big block of flavored ice. (And granitas are a thing, but not the same.) And also that some sugar subs can’t be heated or they break down. So I’m intrigued by the DIY option but also wary.
User avatar
fluffy
Eruption
Posts: 11029
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 10:56 am
Instruments: sometimes
Recording Method: Logic Pro X
Submitting as: Sockpuppet
Pronouns: she/they
Location: Seattle-ish
Contact:

Re: My Life

Post by fluffy »

I just use less sugar. The point is to cut down on the sweetness, and artificial sweetener is WAY sweeter than real sugar. I generally just use half-and-half and heavy cream, sugar, and flavorings, or sometimes I'll do a custard base but that's a lot of work. I actually haven't made proper ice cream in a while and usually do sorbet by just freezing some lemonade or whatever. My most recent kick was Piña Colada mix which made a really good vegan ice cream-like substance.
owl
Panama
Posts: 974
Joined: Mon May 15, 2017 1:29 pm
Instruments: vox keys uke guitar
Recording Method: REAPER
Submitting as: Vowl Sounds, miscellaneous owl
Pronouns: she/her
Location: Madison, WI
Contact:

Re: My Life

Post by owl »

Paco Del Stinko wrote:
Thu Jul 30, 2020 5:33 pm
Well, Owl, I'm glad that as concerning as diabetes is, it's not something worse and should be controllable. Good luck with all that it involves.

In my corner, I've just found out that I have high cholesterol and am at a supposed 10% chance of having a heart attack or stroke within the next ten years. So, changes in my diet/lifestyle are in order as well. I'm too heavy these days as well, so it's a good kick in the ass. I also saw an orthopedist today, and have early arthritus in my right hip. A year of gradually increasing discomfort and pain came to this. So far, ibuprofen as a preventative anti-inflammatory is the treatment. Next would be injections then, ugh, hip replacement. We'll have to all collab as the Medical Misfits, or something. :)

Try and stay healthy, peoples. Ya never know whats up around the bend.
Thanks, Paco! I’m sorry to hear you’ve got some health BS going on too. Hopefully it won’t be too difficult to make whatever changes you need to, and ideally the ibuprofen can stave off the arthritis too. Bodies are dumb, I look forward to my future existence as a cyborg.
User avatar
fluffy
Eruption
Posts: 11029
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 10:56 am
Instruments: sometimes
Recording Method: Logic Pro X
Submitting as: Sockpuppet
Pronouns: she/they
Location: Seattle-ish
Contact:

Re: My Life

Post by fluffy »

Mouse update: aside from the very brief moment I saw it crawl out from under a shelving unit (and then scurry back under), I haven't seen any evidence of it. None of the traps have gone off, I'm seeing no mouse droppings, and there's been no more mysterious fuzzy things brushing against my feet. I've even looked under all the shelving units in my studio and haven't seen anything under there.

Now I wonder if I've had mice for all these years but Fiona's just "taken care of" it for me.
User avatar
Paco Del Stinko
Hot for Teacher
Posts: 3542
Joined: Fri Apr 07, 2006 11:20 am
Instruments: Basic rock, at a basic level.
Recording Method: Roland 2480
Submitting as: Paco del Stinko
Location: Massachusetts. God save the Commonwealth!

Re: My Life

Post by Paco Del Stinko »

We have three cats. There has never been evidence of mice visiting the two living floors, just the cellar and attic. But I had a cat years ago who left a mouse head as tribute, or whatever, in front of the cabinet where I kept her food. Same with other cars I've known over the years. Is Fiona selfish or sleeping on the job? Not picking on her, just wondering.
Bringin' the stink since 2006.
User avatar
fluffy
Eruption
Posts: 11029
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 10:56 am
Instruments: sometimes
Recording Method: Logic Pro X
Submitting as: Sockpuppet
Pronouns: she/they
Location: Seattle-ish
Contact:

Re: My Life

Post by fluffy »

Fiona was a rescue stray and is a bit of a selfish pig when it comes to food. I can totally see her just eating the mice and keeping the fun to herself.
User avatar
crumpart
Ice Cream Man
Posts: 1123
Joined: Wed Aug 07, 2019 8:04 am
Instruments: Fuzz
Submitting as: Hot Pink Halo
Pronouns: She/her
Location: Laois, Ireland
Contact:

Re: My Life

Post by crumpart »

Toshiro bought a piece of secondhand mixing equipment from a guy across in County Clare this week, so we drove for a couple of hours today to pick it up. Clare is where my great-great-grandparents emigrated from after the famine, at the start of the Australian gold rush, so I got my dad to email me the family tree he’s been working on and on the way we visited the town and graveyard where my ancestors lived. I found a lot of graves of people who would definitely be relatives, and couldn’t find my great-great-great-grandparents graves, but there were a few that were very worn and barely readable that I’d like to revisit sometime with some paper and charcoal. We don’t have any names prior to the g-g-g-grandparents, and most of their kids emigrated to Australia, so it would be great to see if we can find out anything further back.
Devil’s got me Lindt! Devil’s got me Lindt!
User avatar
Caravan Ray
bono
bono
Posts: 8647
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 1:51 pm
Instruments: Penis
Recording Method: Garageband
Submitting as: Caravan Ray,G.O.R.T.E.C,Lyricburglar,The Thugs from the Scallop Industry
Location: Toowoomba, Queensland
Contact:

Re: My Life

Post by Caravan Ray »

fluffy wrote:
Fri Jul 31, 2020 7:52 pm
Mouse update: aside from the very brief moment I saw it crawl out from under a shelving unit (and then scurry back under), I haven't seen any evidence of it. None of the traps have gone off, I'm seeing no mouse droppings, and there's been no more mysterious fuzzy things brushing against my feet. I've even looked under all the shelving units in my studio and haven't seen anything under there.

Now I wonder if I've had mice for all these years but Fiona's just "taken care of" it for me.
Weird. I saw a mouse the other day while having lunch at work. I work at a waste management faculty. Don’t expect to see a mouse - we have higher level carnivores on site - mainly black kites. Must have been a tough mouse.
User avatar
Niveous
Beat It
Posts: 7177
Joined: Mon Sep 27, 2004 6:45 am
Instruments: vocals, songwriting, guitar
Submitting as: Lucky Witch and the Righteous Ghost
Pronouns: He/him
Location: Staten Island, NY
Contact:

Re: My Life

Post by Niveous »

I just had such a happy moment that I had to share with someone.

Growing up, I devoured music from as many sources as I could. Lots of radio, raiding my family's record collections and MTV. Today as I listened to the Les Anchois fight, I was reminded of when I was a kid I listened to a lot of French music thanks to MCM (I guess it's the French MTV equivalent) being on one of the UHF channels. Now so many years later, I only recall a few of the songs I really liked from back then because I don't speak a lick of French. Today, I felt driven to see if I could find any of those songs that I had lost to time and the language barrier. I figured out what the French equivalent of Billboard is and started digging for charts and finally found charts from 1989 and saw "Casser La Voix" by Patrick Bruel. It was one of the ones I remembered. This was the time frame. I dug a little further and I have begun finding the songs of my youth and I'm overjoyed. And it's some wild stuff.

Here are some examples
https://youtu.be/WSAH-LUfT4U
https://youtu.be/pH708pZaXXI

I'm off to find some more. This is a good day.
"I'd like to see 1984 redubbed with this in the soundtrack."- Furrypedro.
NUR EIN!
X-Tokyo
Lucky Witch and the Righteous Ghost
User avatar
crumpart
Ice Cream Man
Posts: 1123
Joined: Wed Aug 07, 2019 8:04 am
Instruments: Fuzz
Submitting as: Hot Pink Halo
Pronouns: She/her
Location: Laois, Ireland
Contact:

Re: My Life

Post by crumpart »

Big storm overnight across Ireland. Cork was pretty hard hit and lots of people in towns nearby might not have power for days, but for now we seem good thankfully. https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland ... -1.4334785
Devil’s got me Lindt! Devil’s got me Lindt!
User avatar
Lunkhead
You're No Good
Posts: 8106
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 12:14 pm
Instruments: many
Recording Method: cubase/mac/tascam4x4
Submitting as: Berkeley Social Scene, Merisan, Tiny Robots
Pronouns: he/him
Location: Berkeley, CA
Contact:

Re: My Life

Post by Lunkhead »

Yikes! I hope your power stays on, hope everybody is OK. We are having a confluence of outliers here which has really turned into a mess. We've got a heat wave from some very hot dry air blowing in from one direction. Last Friday I think many areas hit all time record high temperatures. Then there is a tropical storm south of here off the Baja peninsula which managed to send a bunch of stormy weather up here at high speeds from another direction. Sunday when the storm system sped through here during the heat wave in the very early morning we had a truly massive lightning storm. 1000s of lightning strikes in a few hours. It woke us both up at 3:45am and kept us awake for an hour or two because of how bright and frequent the lightning flashes and how loud the thunder claps were. The lightning kept up all day to a lesser degree. Unfortunately those storms didn't actually cause that much rain for some reason though, and we're having a very very dry summer, so, now we've got a bunch of lightning started wildfires around the Bay Area and across northern California. Folks in various areas are having to evacuate the places they live, some are losing their homes, etc. It's really awful. Meanwhile in the Bay Area, we're fortunate in that we're safe from the fires, but now we're still having a heat wave and the air is full of wild fire smoke, so the air quality is terrible. For me and Erin that means that we can't really open the windows in our attic apartment without letting smoky air in, so we're unable to cool our place off at night and we're stuck with just letting it be a solar oven cooking us all day every day. And I've got another dental surgery Monday. 2020 for the win! :lol:
User avatar
irwin
Mean Street
Posts: 617
Joined: Mon Jan 22, 2007 10:09 pm
Instruments: insecurity
Recording Method: scotch
Submitting as: suckweasel, kasper, nutwalls
Location: Woodland, CA

Re: My Life

Post by irwin »

Air is really nasty here, ash falling from the sky. We’re about 20 miles East of the fires. A few power outages, but nothing longer than a couple of hours. A few of my coworkers are on the edge of the mandatory evacuation zone, but so far everyone is OK.

Stay safe out there everyone.
"Ouch. I wonder if this guy sounds like this when he speaks." -- Puce
User avatar
gizo
Push Comes to Shove
Posts: 498
Joined: Sun Sep 17, 2006 11:42 pm
Instruments: i am mostly playing stringed ones, but I'll have a tilt at most
Recording Method: my method is to throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks. My wall is made of Logic on an old iMac
Submitting as: gizo : rackwagon (with Toshiro) : Late Heavy Bombardment : Stacking Theory
Pronouns: he/him
Location: I wish I was at an ocean beach

Re: My Life

Post by gizo »

My old friend Josh has a radio show in Central Victoria and just played my 'Floating Away' (re-mixed by Toshiro) and it made me smile.

If you like Jangle-pop, you should give his show a listen.

Listen to the episode, or check the playlists
.sig
User avatar
Paco Del Stinko
Hot for Teacher
Posts: 3542
Joined: Fri Apr 07, 2006 11:20 am
Instruments: Basic rock, at a basic level.
Recording Method: Roland 2480
Submitting as: Paco del Stinko
Location: Massachusetts. God save the Commonwealth!

Re: My Life

Post by Paco Del Stinko »

Scary stuff, those fires. Gotta state the obvious and say stay safe, people.

We are at an early drought stage here in Mass., and that's upsetting enough. I grew up with lakes and ponds in my small city, a big and important river running right through the middle of the city to the nearby ocean. I always found the general lack of visible water unsettling when I loved in Albuquerque. Water is life, man.

On the positive, good for you Gizo. That's exciting!
Bringin' the stink since 2006.
User avatar
lichenthroat
Mean Street
Posts: 543
Joined: Thu Oct 27, 2016 12:54 pm
Recording Method: MuseScore & Ardour or Reaper
Submitting as: Lichen Throat, Dimetrodon, Sparetooth, Dessert Tortoise
Pronouns: he/him
Location: New Mexico

Re: My Life

Post by lichenthroat »

Paco Del Stinko wrote:
Fri Aug 21, 2020 5:25 pm
I always found the general lack of visible water unsettling when I loved in Albuquerque. Water is life, man.
Hey, only about 100 miles of the Rio Grande dried out this year.
User avatar
Caravan Ray
bono
bono
Posts: 8647
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 1:51 pm
Instruments: Penis
Recording Method: Garageband
Submitting as: Caravan Ray,G.O.R.T.E.C,Lyricburglar,The Thugs from the Scallop Industry
Location: Toowoomba, Queensland
Contact:

Re: My Life

Post by Caravan Ray »

Lunkhead wrote:
Thu Aug 20, 2020 7:20 am
Yikes! I hope your power stays on, hope everybody is OK. We are having a confluence of outliers here which has really turned into a mess. We've got a heat wave from some very hot dry air blowing in from one direction. Last Friday I think many areas hit all time record high temperatures. Then there is a tropical storm south of here off the Baja peninsula which managed to send a bunch of stormy weather up here at high speeds from another direction. Sunday when the storm system sped through here during the heat wave in the very early morning we had a truly massive lightning storm. 1000s of lightning strikes in a few hours. It woke us both up at 3:45am and kept us awake for an hour or two because of how bright and frequent the lightning flashes and how loud the thunder claps were. The lightning kept up all day to a lesser degree. Unfortunately those storms didn't actually cause that much rain for some reason though, and we're having a very very dry summer, so, now we've got a bunch of lightning started wildfires around the Bay Area and across northern California. Folks in various areas are having to evacuate the places they live, some are losing their homes, etc. It's really awful. Meanwhile in the Bay Area, we're fortunate in that we're safe from the fires, but now we're still having a heat wave and the air is full of wild fire smoke, so the air quality is terrible. For me and Erin that means that we can't really open the windows in our attic apartment without letting smoky air in, so we're unable to cool our place off at night and we're stuck with just letting it be a solar oven cooking us all day every day. And I've got another dental surgery Monday. 2020 for the win! :lol:
Fires are terrifying. I feel for you Lunk. They scare the absolute shit out of me. I now live in Queensland where we have wet summers. But I grew up in NSW with dry summers and horrendous bushfires. And they are now worse. Global warming is a thing. A big thing.
User avatar
gizo
Push Comes to Shove
Posts: 498
Joined: Sun Sep 17, 2006 11:42 pm
Instruments: i am mostly playing stringed ones, but I'll have a tilt at most
Recording Method: my method is to throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks. My wall is made of Logic on an old iMac
Submitting as: gizo : rackwagon (with Toshiro) : Late Heavy Bombardment : Stacking Theory
Pronouns: he/him
Location: I wish I was at an ocean beach

Re: My Life

Post by gizo »

Oh jeez - I've missed what's happening over there, folks. I'm sorry to hear it - like Ray says, we know just how horrifying fires are. I feel for you.

Take care, and keep hydrated.
.sig
User avatar
Pigfarmer Jr
Jump
Posts: 2293
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2009 6:13 am
Instruments: Guitar
Recording Method: Br-900CD and Reaper to mix
Submitting as: Pigfarmer Jr, Evil Grin, Pork Producer, Gilmore Lynette Tootle, T.C. Elliott
Pronouns: he/him
Location: Columbia, Missouri
Contact:

Re: My Life

Post by Pigfarmer Jr »

My wife is moving my daughter out near San Francisco this week. Apparently, if the fire doesn't jump a highway then they'll be fine.
Evil Grin bandcamp - Evil Grin spotify
T.C. Elliott bandcamp - T.C. Elliott spotify

"PigFramer: Guy and guitar OF MY NIGHTMARES." - Blue Lang
User avatar
Lunkhead
You're No Good
Posts: 8106
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 12:14 pm
Instruments: many
Recording Method: cubase/mac/tascam4x4
Submitting as: Berkeley Social Scene, Merisan, Tiny Robots
Pronouns: he/him
Location: Berkeley, CA
Contact:

Re: My Life

Post by Lunkhead »

Pigfarmer Jr wrote:
Sun Aug 23, 2020 3:06 pm
My wife is moving my daughter out near San Francisco this week. Apparently, if the fire doesn't jump a highway then they'll be fine.
Oh wow. I hope they're keeping an eye on things and staying safe! San Francisco itself is probably one of the best places to be right now around here, in terms of heat and fires and smoke. But "near San Francisco" it's wildly variable. We've got AQIs ~100-160 here in Berkeley, but other areas closer to the fires all around us are more like 200-300+. It's pretty crappy. And now apparently there is some chance of another fluke lightning storm passing through, potentially tonight. Fingers crossed that doesn't happen.
Post Reply